Meryl’s upcoming thriller “Dark Matter” will have its world premiere at Sundance. Festival organizers on Thursday announced the remainder of the festival slate, covering the premieres, and the Spectrum, Park City at Midnight, Sundance Collection and New Frontier programs. A complete lineup and airdates for “Dark Matter” will be published by the Sundance Institute later in December. Visit the Official Website for more information.

The awards season has started with the critics awards being announced these days. Meryl has received a Best Actress nomination for the Critics Choice Award for “The Devil Wears Prada” and shares an Acting Ensemble nomination with the cast of “A Prairie Home Companion”. She was also named a runner-up for the Best Actress award by the New York Film Critics Association and the Boston Film Critics (in the supporting actress category). Further, “The Devil Wears Prada” has been featured among the Top10 Movies of the Year lists by the American Film Institute and the National Board of Review. The Golden Globe nominations will be announced this Thursday – the Critics Choice Awards will be handed out on January 12, 2007.

As the 2007 awards season kicks off, Meryl has received a nomination for the Satellite Award as Best Actress for “The Devil Wears Prada”. She shares this category with Julie Walters (Driving Lessons), Annette Bening (Running with Scissors), Toni Collette (Little Miss Sunshine), Jodie Whitaker (Venus) and Beyoncé Knowles (Dreamgirls). “The Devil Wears Prada” also received nominations as Best Picture – Comedy and for Patricia Field’s Costume Design. A full list with all nominees can be found here.

According to the Hollywood Reporter, Meryl Streep has joined the cast of New Line Cinema’s “Rendition,” a political thriller starring Jake Gyllenhaal and Reese Witherspoon and being directed by Gavin Hood. Written by Kelley Sane, the multilayered story centers on a CIA analyst (Gyllenhaal) based in Cairo who finds his world spinning out of control after he witnesses the interrogation of a foreign national by the Egyptian secret police. Witherspoon is playing the pregnant American wife of the national. Alan Arkin also has been cast, playing a senator. Streep is a government official who orders the rendition of the national. Shooting is under way in Los Angeles. The production also will shoot in Washington, Morocco and South Africa. Read the full article here.

USA Today has published reactions and condolences from many of Robert Altman’s colleagues and actors, including Meryl Streep. Her statement is below, the full article can be read here.

“Bob’s restless spirit has moved on – I have to say, when I spoke with him last week, he seemed impatient for the future. He still had the generous, optimistic appetite for the next thing, and we planned the next film laughing in anticipation of the laughs we’d have. What a gent, what a guy, what a great heart. There’s no one like him and we’ll miss him so.” – Meryl Streep

Tony Bennett and Meryl Streep on Wednesday launched a national TV campaign to bring aid to war-torn Darfur. “Don’t be distracted. Don’t turn away. Don’t be overwhelmed. Don’t be too busy. Don’t delay. Darfur can’t wait. Go to www.unrefugees.org,” Streep says in new public service ads. Streep and Bennett are appealing to Americans to donate to USA for U.N. Refugee Agency’s relief effort, which provides food and shelter for the millions of people who have fled their homes since fighting broke out in the Sudanese region in 2003. The complete article can be read on People.com, please also visit UNrefugees.org for more information.

Meryl Streep will present a public lecture about her career and the theater at 5 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 30, in McCosh 50 when she comes to Princeton University as the Belknap Visitor in the Humanities. Streep was selected to deliver this year’s Belknap lecture because of the range of her experience. The free public lecture is being presented by the Humanities Council. Tickets for Princeton students, faculty and staff with valid PUIDs will be distributed from noon to 6 p.m. Monday and Tuesday, Nov. 27-28, at the Frist Campus Center ticket office. There is a limit of two tickets per person bearing a PUID. A limited number of tickets also will be available to the public from noon to 3 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 29, at the Richardson Auditorium ticket office in Alexander Hall, with a limit of two tickets per person. On Nov. 30, doors will open at 4:30 p.m. for ticket holders, and at 4:50 p.m. there will be general admission from a “wait line” for any available seats. Read the full article here.

Nathan Lane, Harvey Fierstein, Donny Osmond, Meryl Streep and stars of The Times They Are A-Changin’, The Jersey Boys, Tarzan and more will take part in “A Magical Evening” benefit for the Christopher Reeve Foundation Nov. 6. The event, which will celebrate the strength and courage of the late Christopher and Dana Reeve, will be held at the Marriott Marquis. Current Beauty and the Beast star Donny Osmond, The Times They Are A Changin’ lead Lisa Brescia, Tarzan duo Josh Strickland and Jenn Gambatese as well as stars of Jersey Boys are slated to perform. Meryl Streep, Barbara Walters, Joan Collins, Olivia Wilde, Miss USA Tara Conner as well as Matthew, Alexandra and Will Reeve will be in attendance. Read the full article here.

Meryl Streep will receive the Sherry Lansing Leadership Award at The Hollywood Reporter’s annual Women in Entertainment breakfast, to be held Dec. 5 at the Beverly Hills Hotel. The Lansing award is designed to recognize women who have been pioneers or leaders in their field in the entertainment industry. The Women in Entertainment breakfast, sponsored by Lifetime Television, will be held in conjunction with the publication of The Reporter’s 15th annual “Women in Entertainment Power 100” special issue. “We are thrilled to honor Meryl Streep as this year’s recipient of the Sherry Lansing Leadership Award. Ms. Streep is one of the most respected and most acclaimed actresses of all time,” said John Kilcullen, publisher of The Hollywood Reporter and president of the Film & Performing Arts Group. “Ms. Streep embodies all of the qualities of excellence and achievement that the award is designed to represent. Her work on and off the screen inspires many.” Read the full article here.

The cast of “A Prairie Home Companion” has been nominated for a Gotham Award in the “Best Ensemble Cast” category, alongside the casts of “Babel”, “For Your Consideration”, “Little Miss Sunshine” and “Shortbus”. The Gothams, which will be presented on Nov. 29 at New York’s Pier Sixty at the Chelsea Piers, also will recognize both Kate Winslet and Edward Norton with 2006 Gotham Tributes. Meryl Streep won the Gotham Tribute Award in 1999.